1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a flat fluorescent lamp and more particularly to a flat fluorescent lamp capable of reducing a pinhole such that a backlight assembly having the flat fluorescent lamp demonstrates improved heat-radiating properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device is a display device that displays an image using liquid crystals that have optical and electrical properties, such as an anisotropic refractive index, an anisotropic permittivity and so on. Compared to other display devices such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display panel (PDP), etc., LCD devices have advantages such as thinness, light weight, low driving voltage, low power consumption and so on. Therefore, LCD devices are widely used in various industrial fields.
The LCD device is a non-emissive display device that cannot emit light for itself. Accordingly, the LCD device requires a backlight assembly to provide an LCD panel with light.
A conventional backlight assembly generally uses a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) having a thin and long cylindrical shape as a light source. However, as an LCD device becomes larger in size, more and more CCFLs are needed, increasing the manufacturing cost and degrading the overall luminance uniformity.
Recently, a flat fluorescent lamp that generates planar light has been invented to overcome the above-mentioned problems. A flat fluorescent lamp includes a plurality of discharge spaces for uniformly emitting light over a wide area, and electrodes driving the flat fluorescent lamp. The electrodes are disposed at end portions of the discharge spaces and contact the discharge spaces.
In the flat fluorescent lamp, plasma discharge arises to generate ultraviolet rays in the discharge spaces in response to receiving a discharge voltage from an inverter. Then, a fluorescent material formed on the inside of the flat fluorescent lamp is excited by the ultraviolet rays caused by the plasma discharge, and visible rays are emitted.
When the temperature of the flat fluorescent lamp reaches about 160° C., a pinhole phenomenon occurs, whereby a hole forms in the glass. The pinhole phenomenon negatively affects the stability of the flat fluorescent lamp.